The role of bone graft materials in clinical applications to aid the healing of bone has been well documented over the years. Most bone graft materials that are currently available, however, have failed to deliver the anticipated results necessary to make these materials a routine therapeutic application in reconstructive surgery. Improved bone graft materials for forming bone tissue implants that can produce reliable and consistent results are therefore still needed and desired.
In recent years intensive studies have been made on bone graft materials in the hopes of identifying the key features necessary to produce an ideal bone graft scaffold, as well as to proffer a theory of the mechanism of action that results in successful bone tissue growth. At least one recent study has suggested that a successful bone tissue scaffold should consider the physicochemical properties, morphology and degradation kinetics of the bone being treated. (“Bone tissue engineering: from bench to bedside”, Woodruff et al., Materials Today, 15(10): 430-435 (2012)). According to the study, porosity is necessary to allow vascularization, and the desired scaffold should have a porous interconnected pore network with surface properties that are optimized for cell attachment, migration, proliferation and differentiation. At the same time, the scaffold should be biocompatible and allow flow transport of nutrients and metabolic waste. Just as important is the scaffold's ability to provide a controllable rate of biodegradation to compliment cell and/or tissue growth and maturation. Finally, the ability to model and/or customize the external size and shape of the scaffold is to allow a customized fit for the individual patient is of equal importance.
Woodruff, et. al. also suggested that the rate of degradation of the scaffold must be compatible with the rate of bone tissue formation, remodeling and maturation. Recent studies have demonstrated that initial bone tissue ingrowth does not equate to tissue maturation and remodeling. Accord to the study, most of the currently available bone graft materials are formulated to degrade as soon as new tissue emerges, and at a faster rate than the new bone tissue is able to mature, resulting in less than desirable clinical outcomes.
Other researchers have emphasized different aspects as the core features of an ideal bone graft material. For example, many believe that the material's ability to provide adequate structural support or mechanical integrity for new cellular activity is the main factor to achieving clinical success, while others emphasize the role of porosity as the key feature. The roles of porosity, pore size and pore size distribution in promoting revascularization, healing, and remodeling of bone have long been recognized as important contributing factors for successful bone grafting implants. Many studies have suggested an ideal range of porosities and pore size distributions for achieving bone graft success. However, as clinical results have shown, a biocompatible bone graft having the correct structure and mechanical integrity for new bone growth or having the requisite porosities and pore distributions alone does not guarantee a good clinical outcome. What is clear from this collective body of research is that the ideal bone graft implant should possess a combination of structural and functional features that act in synergy to allow the bone graft implant to support the biological activity and an effective mechanism of action as time progresses.
Currently available bone graft materials fall short of meeting these requirements. That is, many bone graft materials tend to suffer from one or more of the problems previously mentioned, while others may have different, negatively associated complications or shortcomings. One example of such a graft material is autograft material. Autograft materials have acceptable physical and biological properties and exhibit the appropriate mechanical structure and integrity for bone growth. However, the use of autogenous bone requires the patient to undergo multiple or extended surgeries, consequently increasing the time the patient is under anesthesia, and leading to considerable pain, increased risk of infection and other complications, and morbidity at the donor site.
When it comes to synthetic bone graft substitutes, the most rapidly expanding category consists of products based on calcium sulfate, hydroxyapatite and tricalcium phosphate. Whether in the form of injectable cements, blocks or morsels, these materials have a proven track record of being effective, safe bone graft substitutes for selected clinical applications. Recently, new materials such as bioactive glass (“BAG”) materials have become an increasingly viable alternative or supplement to natural bone-derived graft materials. In comparison to autograft materials, these new synthetic materials have the advantage of avoiding painful and inherently risky harvesting procedures on patients. Also, the use of these synthetic, non-bone derived materials can reduce the risk of disease transmission. Like autograft and allograft materials, these new artificial materials can serve as osteoconductive scaffolds that promote bone regrowth. Preferably, the graft material is resorbable and is eventually replaced with new bone tissue.
Many artificial bone grafts available today comprise materials that have properties similar to natural bone, such as implants containing calcium phosphates. Exemplary calcium phosphate implants contain type-B carbonated hydroxyapatite whose implant in general may be described as (Ca5(PO4)3x(CO3)x(OH)). Calcium phosphate ceramics have been fabricated and implanted in mammals in various forms including, but not limited to, shaped bodies and cements. Different stoichiometric implants, such as hydroxyapatite (HA), tricalcium phosphate (TCP), tetracalcium phosphate (TTCP), and other calcium phosphate (CaP) salts and minerals have all been employed in attempts to match the adaptability, biocompatibility, structure, and strength of natural bone. Although calcium phosphate based materials are widely accepted, they lack the ease of handling, flexibility and capacity to serve as a liquid carrier/storage media necessary to be used in a wide array of clinical applications. Calcium phosphate materials are inherently rigid, and to facilitate handling are generally provided as part of an admixture with a carrier material; such admixtures typically have an active calcium phosphate ingredient to carrier volume ratio of about 50:50, and may have a ratio as low as 10:90.
As previously mentioned, the roles of porosity, pore size and pore size distribution in promoting revascularization, healing, and remodeling of bone have been recognized as important contributing factors for successful bone grafting materials. Yet currently available bone graft materials still lack the requisite chemical and physical properties necessary for an ideal graft material. For instance, currently available graft implants tend to resorb too quickly (e.g., within a few weeks), while some take too long (e.g., over years) to resorb due to the implant's chemical composition and structure. For example, certain implants made from hydroxyapatite tend to take too long to resorb, while implants made from calcium sulfate or β-TCP tend to resorb too quickly. Further, if the porosity of the implant is too high (e.g., around 90%), there may not be enough base material available. Conversely, if the porosity of the material is too low (e.g., 10%,) then too much material must be resorbed, leading to longer resorption rates. In addition, the excess material means there may not be enough room left in the residual graft implant for cell infiltration. Other times, the graft implants may be too soft, such that any kind of physical pressure exerted on them during clinical usage causes them to lose the fluids retained by them.
Improved bone graft materials that provide the necessary biomaterial, structure and clinical handling necessary for optimal bone grafting have previously been disclosed by applicants in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2011/0144764 entitled “BONE GRAFT MATERIAL”, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2011/0144763 entitled “DYNAMIC BIOACTIVE BONE GRAFT MATERIAL HAVING AN ENGINEERED POROSITY”, U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2011/0316 entitled “DYNAMIC BIOACTIVE BONE GRAFT MATERIAL AND METHODS FOR HANDLING”, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/830,629 entitled “BIOACTIVE POROUS BONE GRAFT IMPLANTS”, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/830,763 entitled “BIOACTIVE POROUS BONE GRAFT COMPOSITIONS IN SYNTHETIC CONTAINMENT”, and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/830,851 entitled “BONE GRAFT IMPLANTS CONTAINING ALLOGRAFT.”
These bone graft materials provide an improved mechanism of action for bone grafting by allowing the new tissue formation to be achieved through a physiologic process rather than merely from templating. These bone graft materials and resultant implants formed from these materials are engineered with a combination of structural and functional features that act in synergy to allow the bone graft implant to support cell proliferation and new tissue growth over time. The bone graft implants serve as cellular scaffolds to provide the necessary porosity and pore size distribution to allow proper vascularization, optimized cell attachment, migration, proliferation, and differentiation. The bone graft implants are formed of synthetic materials that are biocompatible and offer the requisite mechanical integrity to support continued cell proliferation throughout the healing process. In addition, the bone graft materials are formulated for improved clinical handling and allow easy modeling and/or customization of the external size and shape to produce a customized implant for the anatomic site.
While these improved graft materials are ideal for providing the many beneficial advantages currently lacking in available graft materials, yet without the negative complications associated with other graft materials, they nevertheless pose a different, more unique challenge for the user. Similar to many other compressible and/or expandable or pliable graft materials, including fiber-based bone graft materials, due to their tremendous pliability and flexibility, the manner of handling these materials becomes as important as the composition of the materials themselves. More specifically, due to the pliable nature of certain compressible and/or expandable or pliable graft materials, which may be easily compressible and expandable, it is desirable to provide a manner of consistently delivering a known quantity of fibrous material thereby providing a final implantable device possessing the desired target porosity. Thus, the ability to control the ultimate or final porosity of the fibrous materials becomes paramount. Inconsistent application of the fibrous material, which affects the ultimate porosity of the implant, may result in unpredictable and less desirable clinical outcomes. Accordingly, there exists a need for dosage control of these bone graft materials. Embodiments of the present disclosure address these and other needs.